Personal Digest Saturday: May 21 – May 27

Life news this week:

• Saturday I did blogging in between watching episodes of The Office. And then I did all my other daily activities switching off between watching more episodes. I sent out writing stuff, practiced music, took walks, and took some new photos of merchandise. Put away some minor messes in the house. And I found a golf ball next to a broken window on my house.
  
  
• Sunday I got up early because my radio switched itself on and nothing was working to turn it off. I had to unplug it and plug it back in. Then I had a random trip with Jeaux to his apartment complex where we went swimming in one of the FOUR pools their complex has. It was a really nice day! We walked to a burger place and I got a veggie burger, and we brought the food back and watched The Owl House at his place. After he dropped me off I did laundry and trash and karaoke and chores. Also worked on my photos website, sent out writing stuff, and fell asleep on the floor.
  
  
• Monday we had some letters at work so that kept me occupied most of the day. After work I watched more episodes of The Office and worked on my comic, put my clothes away from the laundry, and played games with my friends online. My window got fixed!
  
  
• Tuesday I worked, watched The Office, worked on the comic, and baked banana bread instead of a cake for Jeaux's birthday.
  
  
• Wednesday I did some utilities stuff at work. Did more working on the comic and watching The Office. Watched a video message from Cara which was nice to hear. Talked to Mom about her water bill. Weird day. Jeaux took me to the grocery store and we ate some Macaroni Grill food, and watched Colbert and Our Flag Means Death and took a walk.
  
  
• Thursday our team interviewed on a shortlisted project but I wasn't part of the team. Talked to Mom about helping her with her bills. Then she got called by a scammer like half an hour later. After work I did more drawing, more The Office, and more video messages. Victor called and updated me on his situation (he's sick again).
  
  
• Friday I went to a meeting and worked on my reports. After work I posted my comic and watched The Office and drew comics. (I am trying to get ahead because next week I'll be busy on Friday.) Got to talk to Sister L now that she is done with her thingie. Watched too much depressing news.

New Reviews:

• Une Passion des mots gave The Invisible Orientation a two-star review on Goodreads.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Well, I've had the munchies a lot and also had candy in the house, and have had more occasions than usual to have big meals. It hasn't been a great week for making decisions in line with my goals. High weight: 118.7. Low weight: 116.4.
  
• Nutrition stuff: I've been surprisingly good with my balance between carbs, protein, and fats, but the days I had restaurant food were high-fat days and I haven't been doing super great with getting my greens in. Vitamin consumption has continued as normal.
  
• Activity stuff: I made my step goals every day this week. My low day was Monday at 10,011 steps, and my high day was Thursday at 12,766 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently reading: Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. I'm on page 269.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Calypso" by Suzanne Vega.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0889: "Just Because They're New." 

Videos Made:

None.

New photos:

Window broken by golf ball

Updated button collection

Updated bags collection

Updated scarves collection

Updated belts collection

Updated Special Issue comics collection

Updated blanket collection

Updated hat collection

Day at Jeaux's pool

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,416 for swankivy (3 new), 674 for JulieSondra (1 new), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 143 for Not-So-Giant Women (1 new). Twitter followers: 919 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,108 for JulieSondra (4 new). Facebook: 298 friends for swankivy (1 new, but it's an alternate account of an existing friend), 636 likes for JulieSondra (lost 2), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 236 likes for So You Write (no change), 90 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (1 new). Tumblr followers: 2,456 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 238 (lost 1).

Personal Digest Saturday: May 14 – May 20

Life news this week:

• Saturday I finished some podcast prep and worked alternately on blogging and transcript production for work. I took a walk, talked to my sister, and jumped onto the podcast recording with Daria. We recorded two episodes ("Kiki's Pizza Delivery Service" and "Monster Reunion") and then I got my last steps in and practiced some music.
  
  
• Sunday we had a good band practice. I talked to my dad about my Charlotte trip on the way there, and we decided on what songs we want to play at our first performance which is going to be an open mic night soon. After, we had sushi like usual and drove home. I did my laundry and trash chores and finished my transcript for work. Jeaux stopped by to pick up a chicken thing my mom had made him and we watched an episode of The Owl House. And later I watched the last episode of Amphibia.
  
  
• Monday we sent out two letters at work. I put away laundry and talked on the Polos. I listened to our band recordings and got some steps in. Washed dishes and cleaned out under my sink. Made a reservation for a hotel for an upcoming mini-vacation Meghan and I are going to take. Then I played games with the pals and got the rest of my steps in after.
  
  
• Tuesday I worked on reports, utilities, and data entry. After work I had a yummy tofu and mushroom dish and then got really hungry for cookies so I made some cookie bars. Talked to Mom, took a nap, sang a karaoke song, took a walk while reading, and recorded a new video. Read some blogs and enjoyed my cookie bars.
  
  
• Wednesday I had to prepare support documents for teaming efforts and fulfill some stamp requests. Worked on my photo gallery page. Briefly talked to Sister P about some stuff Sister L is doing to improve her life. Jeaux came by and picked me up for grocery shopping and we got Burger 21 food. Then watched a bunch of Colbert and Our Flag Means Death. Sent out some writing stuff.
  
  
• Thursday I worked on data entry, bothered utility reps, and helped my boss with making some graphics for a letter. Wrote my storyboard for my comic. Blocked a bunch of people on Twitter for joining a "White Writers' Guild" because they literally think white people are becoming oppressed if efforts are spreading to uplift writers of color (currently less than 15% of published authors in this country). Victor called for a little while. No real news but I got to tell him about my vacation. Finished up my steps and went to bed.
  
  
• Friday I went to meetings where the potential client liked us a lot. I worked on timesheets, reports, and support documents. Then I alternated between drawing frames of my comic and listening to music while getting my steps. It's Negative One's 17th anniversary! After finishing, I watched episodes of The Office.

New Reviews:

• Laura gave The Invisible Orientation a three-star review on Goodreads.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: Ate an awful lot of cookie bars this week and it didn't seem to make a difference. I think this is probably about where my body likes to be. Which is unfortunate because I'd rather it be about 5 pounds less. But to be honest, that's probably something I'd have to work really hard to maintain and maybe I should just be happy here. :) High weight: 117.1. Low weight: 116.4.
  
• Nutrition stuff: Not very good with nutrition at all this week. I ate a lot of comfort food and cookie bars, and did NOT try to include vegetables with my choices. I am not so happy with it and also have felt a little tired lately so I think I need to work on this. Vitamin consumption has continued as normal.
  
• Activity stuff: I made my step goals every day this week. My low day was Tuesday at 10,102 steps, and my high day was Friday at 13,391 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently reading: Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. I'm on page 269.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0888: "The Boss." 

Videos Made:

Letters to an Asexual #91 ("Ever wonder why you're SINGLE??") is out. In this video, a man refuses to process my plainly stated preferences and keeps talking to me like he knows I want a relationship, and then tries to blame my "attitude" for why I'm shockingly still single in my 30s. Hilarious!

New photos:

Fooling around at band practice

A cookie bar

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,413 for swankivy (1 new), 673 for JulieSondra (lost 1), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 142 for Not-So-Giant Women (1 new). Twitter followers: 920 for swankivy (lost 2), 3,104 for JulieSondra (11 new). Facebook: 297 friends for swankivy (no change), 638 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 236 likes for So You Write (no change), 89 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,457 (1 new). Instagram followers: 239 (no change).

Personal Digest Saturday: May 7 – May 13

Life news this week:

• Saturday I woke up for my last full day in the Airbnb rental. I texted Lindsay to see if she wanted to have coffee before work but she said she didn't feel up to it so I just worked on my photo gallery and blogging and invited my friend Fen over for the afternoon. We talked over avocado toast, took a really nice long walk, and decided to check out a Charlotte favorite: Bean Vegan Cuisine. So glad I got to try it! After the delicious food, Fen and I watched some Steven Universe and talked about issues raised by the show. After they left I updated the rest of my sites and took a weird nap on the couch. I finished up some cleanup for having to leave early the next day and went to bed.
  
  
• Sunday I had my breakfast and coffee and cleaned up the last remnants of our occupancy of the Airbnb. I got a Lyft to the Charlotte airport and the flight was uneventful. Mom had offered to pick me up at the Tampa airport and she was on time (bonus!) but had a run-in with an airport cop (boo). I was able to give Mom a card that was signed by all three sisters and I gave her a chocolate bar too. Mom hung out for a while and we talked and I told her about my trip. We also did a video call with Patricia for Mother's Day. After Mom left I finished unpacking, made some Polos, and went to bed early.
  
  
• Monday was about as hectic as I expected coming back to the office after a vacation. We got three letters out (which wasn't too chaotic) and I worked through timesheets, utility information, updated projects, a meeting, and data entry. After work I took a nap, ate cookies, and watched Amphibia. Then played games with friends and put away laundry. Caught up on blogs. Recorded a karaoke song. Also, Sister P's birthday!
  
  
• Tuesday I was still catching up on work stuff. We had to resubmit a letter and prepare for a public meeting. Talked to Meg on Polo, recorded a ukulele cover of "Tower of Mistakes" in Amethyst cosplay (without the purple makeup), took a walk, and worked on the next episode of Not-So-Giant Women. Ate too many cookies.
  
  
• Wednesday I had the day off because I was going with Mom to get her cataract surgery. Jeaux had volunteered to drive so he had the day off too. We picked up Mom and dropped her off at St. Luke's in Tarpon Springs, and then Jeaux and I had breakfast at an outdoor restaurant, checked out an art gallery and a metaphysical store, and killed some time in Home Depot. Then we picked up Mom and all had gone just fine. We took her home and resumed with our usual Jeaux Day--went grocery shopping, watched some Colbert and Owl House, took a walk, and ate at SoFresh. After he left I saw some reactions on YouTube before sleeping.
  
  
• Thursday was a rough day at work. Had to straighten out some utility stuff, update some meeting info sheets and research parcel information, help with an interview team, and worked on data entry until 9 at night. Victor didn't call me like he usually does on Thursdays so I also didn't start working on my webcomic. I listened to Polos and got my steps and finished editing the latest Not-So-Giant Women podcast.
  
  
• Friday was another busy work day. Updated flyers, went to meetings, created upcoming project reports, did utility coordination, and worked on transcripts. Then I had to draw all of Negative One after work and still managed to walk enough to get my steps. Worked a little on podcast planning before going to sleep.

New Reviews:

• Kayla Feifer gave The Invisible Orientation a four-star review on Goodreads.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I thought I was going to have a huge change when I got back from vacation but my scale number was the lowest after I got back! Then it went up and down again. High weight: 118.7. Low weight: 115.8.
  
• Nutrition stuff: Vacation was full of pizza and high-fat food. When I got back I was eating extra cookies and stuff that wasn't that great for me, and the mid-week stop in Tarpon Springs for Mom's surgery involved a couple high-calorie meals. But as usual, vitamin consumption has continued as normal.
  
• Activity stuff: I made my step goals every day this week. My low day was Monday at 10,137 steps, and my high day was Wednesday at 13,565 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently reading: Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. I'm on page 256.

New singing performances:

My cosplay ukulele cover of "Tower of Mistakes" from Steven Universe:

This week's karaoke song is "Fly Away" by Lenny Kravitz.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0887: "Nonfiction." 

Videos Made:

Not-So-Giant Women #36 is out. Join Daria and Ivy as they watch and talk about "Alone Together" and cover such topics as Stevonnie's design, the Gems' reactions, gender and pronoun stuff, the trans allegory, humans' reaction to Stevonnie, whether Fusions' components can absorb skills from each other that they can take with them, comparisons of fusion to sex, Fusion names, theories on what fusion is actually like, the importance of the dance, the grossness of Kevin's behavior, the whole mess of people thinking they should get to know what is in a trans or intersex person's pants, and the dangers of spoilers.

New photos:

Bean Vegan Cuisine with Fen

Bean Vegan Cuisine food

Amethyst wings at the Healing Head Witch in Tarpon

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,412 for swankivy (no change), 674 for JulieSondra (1 new), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 141 for Not-So-Giant Women (1 new). Twitter followers: 922 for swankivy (lost 1), 3,093 for JulieSondra (14 new). Facebook: 297 friends for swankivy (no change), 638 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 236 likes for So You Write (no change), 89 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,456 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 239 (lost 3).

Personal Digest Saturday: April 30 – May 6

Life news this week:

• I went on vacation this week! New photo gallery for the trip is here.
  
  
• Saturday I woke up late after falling asleep with my contacts in, ew. Chatted with Mom on the phone, worked on my Not-So-Giant Women podcast prep, worked on blogging, and did some Polos for others. Then I worked on my next webcomic so I could get it finished before leaving town. Weirdly, my internet went down for several hours so I was glad that everything I needed to do online was done before it happened--except then it extended into when I was supposed to be online for the podcast. Ended up doing half the session on my phone using data and the Zoom app, which was NOT ideal, but we made it through and the internet came back halfway through so we resumed on the Wi-Fi. We recorded our discussions of "Beach City Drift" and "Restaurant Wars." Then I wrapped things up and went to bed.
  
  
• Sunday I accidentally made coffee with double the water necessary. (??) Jumped into laundry and packing and chores. Got the packing done after a lot of wrangling. Managed to squeeze everything into the suitcase! Took out the trash, redecorated the house for early summer, and got some files organized to take with me on my trip. Arranged my Lyft pickup and worked on the next Not-So-Giant Women podcast. Talked to Jeaux on the phone.
  
  
• Monday was a much chiller day than I'd expected because we had three letters due but we were well prepared and got them all out in reasonable time. It was Steve's birthday! But he was dealing with some tough stuff. I had some drama with plumbers not coming and thought the sink that had been clogged since last week was going to have to be fixed after I came back from vacation, but they pulled through and unclogged my sink! I was able to run the dishwasher without worry. Also, my comic that I had been missing arrived in the mail! Very happy. Finished the podcast edit and posted it. Ate a bunch of carrots and ranch dip so it wouldn't spoil while I'm out of town. Played online games with my friends and went to bed early after some wrap-ups.
  
  
• Tuesday was the first day of my vacation. I got up at 4:30 AM and had a double breakfast so I wouldn't be hungry during the travel. Got my Lyft to the airport, boarded the plane, and arrived in Charlotte with no issues at all. Patricia's flight got slightly delayed though, so I had to wait an hour for her in the airport. She arrived and we got to see each other for the first time since before the pandemic! We went off to sit at a nice outdoor table where we had our coffee and a waffle treat, and later had Himalayan food for lunch. We spent several hours doing that before we trekked out to our AirBnB in a Lyft car and we settled in at the house. After a little while we walked to the grocery store and picked up our staples for the week. When we got home we ended up eating grilled cheese sandwiches and soup. We stayed up late talking even though she had had a VERY long time with no sleep!
  
  
• Wednesday was the first day we got to see our sister Lindsay. After breakfast, she came over with Mike and we sat out on the deck just chatting and catching up. We ordered pizza and played a couple games, and later we ended up watching some of everyone's favorite episodes of The Office. (I'm the only uninitiated one.) After they went home, Patricia and I stayed up and chatted again. After she went to bed I updated some photos and went to bed too.
  
  
• Thursday I had cereal with Patricia in the morning and we took a refreshing walk. After a while, Lindsay came over and chilled with us for a while and we ate some veggies and dips, and we talked to our dad on video chat so he could see us all together. After Mike got off work he joined us and we went out for sushi, but the outdoor area was under maintenance so we got takeout and ate it at home. Then Lindsay brought out the surprise cupcakes she had picked up for Patricia for her early birthday present. She was so surprised. We ended up watching silly internet videos and laughing our butts off and after they went home Patricia and I watched a few more of them and also a cartoon from Steven Universe that I thought she might like (and she did). She checked in for her flight and we went to bed.
  
  
• Friday Patricia and I decided to go to the Rose Garden after breakfast. It was great! We saw lovely flowers and also a ton of babies. When we came back, we saw a couple more cartoons and then Lindsay joined us for just a short time before Patricia had to head out to catch her flight. Lindsay chilled for a short time more before heading to work. I spent a little time relaxing before my friend Fen came over and we caught up, had some sandwiches, and watched cartoons. Great time! After they left I did a little relaxing with silly videos and went to sleep.

Health Plan Update:

• Weight stuff: I only have stats on this from Saturday through Tuesday since I've been on vacation. High weight: 116.4. Low weight: 115.8.
  
• Nutrition stuff: Vitamin consumption has continued as normal, but just about everything else was pretty wacky this week since I was vacationing! Considering the grilled cheese and the pizza, I would say I had a high-fat diet and didn't get enough protein, though I've had some yogurt and did get some fruits and vegetables in.
  
• Activity stuff: I missed my step goals two days this week because of sedentary days with people I'm visiting! I still made it most days but there was one day where we barely got off the couch. That was Wednesday and Friday. My low day was Wednesday at 1,310 steps, and my high day was Sunday at 14,301 steps.

Books Read: 

• Finished Reading: Nothing this week.
  
  
• Currently reading: Dirty Job by Christopher Moore. I'm on page 168.

New singing performances:

This week's karaoke song is "Times Like These" by Foo Fighters.

Stuff drawn:

Webcomic Negative One Issue 0886: "Only In Our Hearts." 

Videos Made:

Not-So-Giant Women #35 is out. Join Daria and Ivy as they watch and talk about "Lion 3: Straight to Video" and cover such topics as the mechanics of Rose's pregnancy and Steven's existence, the contradiction in Greg's hairline, whether Steven is the only hybrid and what being a hybrid means, the multitude of abandoned projects and scattered messes and messages Rose left behind, Pearl's creepy sleep-watching habits, how much Lion knows about how to help Steven, Gem heights, the mysterious bubbled Gem in Lion's mane, and whether the episode made us cry.

New photos:

The variant comic I was waiting for

The complete album for the Charlotte visit is here, but here are the selected highlights:

Tampa airport

Plane selfie

With Patricia at the Charlotte airport

Finally got coffee!

Our waffles

My waffle: graham cracker pieces and cookie butter

We found honeysuckle!

More honeysuckle

Pizza time!

Cards Against Humanity

Lindsay & Mike go head to head

Three cute sisters

Blue hat, pink hat

Looks like our album cover

Surprise cupcakes for P!

The cupcake kids

My cupcake

P is happy about her cupcakes :)

Coffee at the Rose Garden

Really big rose!

The giant rose

Lovely petals

By the Rose Garden's mural

Tiny flowers!

Lacy flower!

Dogwood!

Plant selfie!

Social Media Counts: 

YouTube subscribers: 5,412 for swankivy (2 new), 673 for JulieSondra (no change), 17 for v & V Vids (no change), 140 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change). Twitter followers: 923 for swankivy (no change), 3,079 for JulieSondra (12 new). Facebook: 297 friends for swankivy (no change), 638 likes for JulieSondra (1 new), 82 followers for Negative One (no change), 236 likes for So You Write (no change), 89 followers for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,457 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 242 (lost 1).